When YouTube celebrated its seventh birthday on May 21, the Google-owned clip streaming service revealed that 72 hours worth of video content is now being uploaded every 60 seconds – up from 48 hours in 2011.

YouTube has also announced that subscriptions to the service have risen by 50% over the past year.

With over 800 million users watching more than three billion hours of video every month, it now boasts “tens of millions” of channels – including countless branded content channels. It is also the world’s most used mobile streaming platform.

Over the past year, YouTube has redesigned the site, and worked to expand its original programming – launching dozens of new content channels. It has also added the option of converting all short-form videos to 3D.

“We’ve come a long way in the past seven years,” YouTube posted on its blog. “What started as a handful of videos shared among friends has transformed into a global platform delivering the next generation of channels to anyone, anywhere, and on any device.”

Using original videos in content marketing is one of the best ways of driving customer engagement and increasing online sales conversions – that’s according to new research conducted jointly by comScore Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, and online video distribution network EXPO.

The report found that more than half of the people surveyed gained a better understanding of marketing messages when they were presented in the form of a video – with around 80% of them finding videos easy to relate to, and more than 80% stating that videos give them a better understanding of the importance of key messages.

The study measured a series of indicators and found that professionally-produced video content and user-generated product videos can both help to drive higher levels of sales effectiveness. However, branded video content is regarded as better at conveying features and benefits, while user-generated videos are seen as more trustworthy when it comes to dealing with product claims.

VIDEOS INCREASE CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE

Frank Findley, comScore’s vice president of research and development, said: “While marketers may already be familiar with the effectiveness of professional video content alone, these results suggest that even greater returns can be had by combining their use with authentic, user-generated content.”

Jessica Thorpe, vice president of marketing at EXPO, said: “We found that consumers perceived feature benefits as more believable when coming directly from the brand through professionally-produced content, while the unbiased user-gen videos were more believable in verifying specific product claims, such as superiority and convenience.”

She added: “When used together, all of the perceived gaps get filled in and consumers become more confident in their purchase decision, resulting in better sales effectiveness.”

We provide tailor-made original content – written by experienced journalists – that provides an efficient, low-cost method of ‘educating’ customers and building awareness of your products or services.

We cost effectively connect companies to customers at all stages of the buying process by telling engaging, relevant, informative and entertaining stories that audiences want to hear.

As a sister company to Focus Marketing Communications, we combine many years of experience in business journalism with a B2B communications consultancy that has been providing creative solutions and strategic advice for more than 25 years.

Customers need objective advice

A 2011 McKinsey & Co. report* highlighted customers’ growing “thirst for objective advice” and showed how a premium is now being placed on problem-solving and strategic-thinking skills.

That’s why we create trustworthy content designed to show your customers or clients how you can help solve their problems.

By giving them the information they’re seeking, you can interact with them on a much more personal level … building trust, and keeping you front-of-mind.

Communicating with customers is changing

In today’s ‘opt-in’ culture, telling interesting well-written stories is a more cost-effective way of attracting attention than traditional ‘interruption marketing’, such as advertising or direct mail.

As a result, more companies are now putting journalistic-quality content at the heart of their SEO and social media marketing strategies.

Customers who opt-in to your content are, in effect, giving you permission to market to them.

Google updates have pushed content to the fore

Google’s recent updates to its ranking system have pushed quality content to the forefront, while shrinking the importance of technical SEO tactics.

Now more than ever, the consistent use of high-quality, keyword-driven content can elevate your website to the top of search results … and keep you there.

Interested in working with us?

We’d like to hear about what you’re doing and how we can help. Just give us a call on 020 8641 8614, or email us at Focus Content Marketing.